Tourniquet
by CrypticMoonFang
Summary: Raven secretly has an abusive boyfriend. When Beast Boy finds out, he's not happy in the least. Now he must rescue Raven from her tormentor. But with his powers unavailable, what can be done? BBxRae Rated T for abuse.  summary sucks please read
1. Chapter 1

-Chapter 1-

A girl in a blue cloak pushed open the door to Titan's Tower as if in a hurry. Two other heads turned from the main room's couch to see who it was that had just come home.

"Hey, Raven. Where've you been?" her leader asked curiously.

"I, uh... Just wanted to go for a walk," she answered a tad secretively. She pushed past the air of uncertainty and discreetly used her body to hide her injured arm.

"A walk? To where? You hate doing stuff like that," her green teammate stated.

"Whitman's Cafe, Beast Boy," she replied, trying to mask the pain in her voice from everyone.

"Haven't you had enough of that place already? I mean, you've been there almost every day this week," Beast Boy insinuated.

"I-I like their tea," she said.

Before either boy could say another word, the teen ran straight to her room without stopping even once to say hello to a red-haired alien that had happened to be floating by. She locked the door and flopped on her bed, exhausted from today.

As she replayed scenes from earlier, she forgot completely about her arm and ended up rolling over on it. Tears stung her eyes and she got up off her painful appendage. Since the pain had been sharp, she decided to examine it. There was a blackening bruise along with a few cuts. Her eyes narrowed; this was yet another wound to hide from her friends.

"Hey, Raven?" a muffled voice came from behind her door.

Even though the door was locked, she hurried to conceal her latest bruise. "Yes?" she called back, her voice cracking slightly.

"Don't you wanna watch a horror movie? It's your favorite," Beast Boy said, trying to bribe her out of her room so he could talk to her.

"No," the reply came.

The changeling's ears drooped and his eyes looked down at his feet. "But you haven't spent any time with us in weeks..." he mumbled.

Overhearing him, she unlocked her door using her powers and got off her bed. "You can come in, if you want."

Slowly, the shapeshifter opened his friend's door to find her standing near her bed. He took into account that her arm was being held behind her at an angle, to where he couldn't see it. He proceeded past all the ancient books and scrolls she kept neatly on various shelves and small tables. Candles were placed all over the room itself, with just one lighted to scarcely illuminate the area. Her bed was round; it's headboard was in the shape of the hood on her cloak and its covers were the color of her cloak. One would've expected this place to be as dusty as a burned-down ranch in the middle of the desert, but it was always kept tidy. Even the mirrors were so clear and void of messiness that someone would easily mistake their reflection for a clone or twin.

He stopped when he was just two feet away from her. "I kinda made up that horror movie thing," he confessed.

"Why?" she asked, unable to fathom why he would lie to get her to come out.

"I wanted to talk to you. You've been hiding in your room and that cafe. You won't hardly even talk to us anymore. If it's that prank I pulled awhile back, I'm-"

"No, it wasn't you. I just need some alone time," she interrupted.

"You haven't gotten enough of that in the past few weeks?" he questioned, one eyebrow raised to signal his disbelief.

Raven paused, not knowing what to say. "I-I know I've been gone a lot, but..." she trailed off, finding herself stuck in the same situation she was just in.

"Where have you _really_ been going? I know you well enough to know you don't go to the same place every week, much less every day," he continued.

She felt her heart skip a beat, and wondered if he knew what she'd been up to. If he already knew or found out, what would he think of her? Her eyes widened as she thought of the great but unwanted pity she'd receive. There would also be anger, hurt, and extreme discomfort. That may just be the last thing she needed right now. Things had to change before she could afford to tell them.

Beast Boy, apparently deciding not to wait much longer for an answer, sat down on the bed. He had no intentions of leaving until she gave him at least a hint.

She closed her eyes and sighed. What was she supposed to say? Maybe bring up another subject? Another topic, preferably to the interest of Beast Boy? Was there any other choice?

"So..." she began, "Any new games out?"

Though this normally would be an appealing question to him, the changeling kept at the original interrogation. "I dunno, Raven. You tell me."

This seemed to shock the empath. Sure he always had lame comebacks that were over-cliche, but this cliche comeback had a much deeper meaning to it. The look in his eyes told her he wanted an answer rather than avoidance. Again, she sighed. "Why are you doing this?" she said as she looked away.

The humanimal thought deeply for a moment, then answered, "Because you're my friend, and I know when something's wrong."

Hiding was no stranger to Raven. She'd kept her destiny secret from them for the longest of times. But they'd ended up getting sucked into it. Would the same happen if she told them now? One thing was for sure: No matter what happened, things weren't going to run smoothly. This much concluded, the decision could be easily made.

"You're wasting your time, Garfield," she answered, knowing how he despised that name, "I'm not going to talk about it."

"But why?" he asked, not entirely ignoring his real name, "I can help."

The teenager turned and clenched her cloak, being mindful of her arm and keeping it well out of sight. "You can't."

"Is it self-conflicted?" he pressed, determined to gather information. As of now, he looked much wiser than his years.

"I don't want to talk about it," she repeated, still not having turned back to face him.

"Was it someone else?" he continued.

She didn't bother answering.

"Who was it?"

Again, she didn't give a reply.

"Did you get hurt in a fight?"

This time, he heard a sniffle and a small, nearly inaudible whimper.

"Raven... Are you...are you crying?" he asked, guilt suddenly washing over him.

"It's nothing, just a bruise," her small voice said.

"Where?" he asked, lowering his voice so as to calm her.

She turned around, but hid her face. In a moment, her arm was within his reach, and he could inspect it.

Taking her wrist carefully, it didn't take very long to find what she was talking about. A decent sized black spot, along with a few cuts, was resting on the front of her upper arm. The cuts were no longer bleeding, but had already clotted to show that they had indeed bled. Thin strips of scabs covered the small wounds. The bruise, on the other hand, would take more time to heal.

His head lifted to meet hers, and he looked questioningly at her even though he couldn't see her eyes.

"I bumped it," was all she said.

Though he was doubtful that was all that had happened to obtain such an injury, he remained silent other than telling her he'd be back. Again, he kept his word and returned from the medicine closet with some peroxide and swabs in his hands.

He first took her arm and held it still. Then he opened the peroxide bottle and dipped the tip of a swab in it. The changeling gentle rubbed it on one of her four small cuts. Though he expected her to show some sign that it burned, she didn't make a sound and noiselessly endured any pain she may have been feeling, if she was feeling any at all. It was only on the last cut, which hadn't entirely clotted yet, that she softly gasped. The scab on it hadn't finished hardening, and the swab's cotton peeled about half of it off.

"Sorry," he whispered quickly.

Raven did no more than nod her head, still not revealing to him her face. She didn't want anyone to see her tears, which were still fresh. But nevertheless, she appreciated his helpfulness regarding her bruise and cuts. But she felt the grilling he put her through was completely unnecessary.

After he was done, he took out an ice pack that she'd failed to notice and lightly put it over her bruise. "There, that should help with the pain," he said, proud of himself for successfully tending to someone else's injury.

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem; at this rate I'll be nurse! And then maybe even a doctor!" He kept on going about all the various jobs he could do even when he was long gone from her room.

She smiled a small, tiny, nearly unnoticeable smile. Though she hadn't realized it, he could be really cute at times. His childish and carefree nature played a big part of his charm. His jokes and pranks often helped with the rest of it. But his sweet and caring side wasn't going unnoticed by a certain empath.


	2. Chapter 2

-Chapter 2-

The always-unexpected alarm sounded throughout the tower, and after it was shut off, Robin's voice rang, "Trouble."

Cyborg was quickly out of the basement, where he'd been working on his car, and in the main room. Here was where the computers and monitors, as well as the TV and games, resided. He greeted everyone else before pressing a button on the remote control.

The TV turned to a different station that no other TV had. It looked very much similar to a police monitor, but more advanced. A large map of the city was displayed, and a little red dot blinked at the bottom of the screen, seeming to move away from a bank.

"It looks like it's...Mumbo," Cyborg identified.

"And he's getting away," the Boy Wonder observed, "But not for long. Titans, go!"

With these words, every member of the team departed out the door as fast as they could. Beast Boy was a bird, being as he had to fly over the water surrounding the tower. Starfire thought a happy thought and automatically flew up into the skies for surveillance. Cyborg and Robin had their ever-present vehicles, the R-cycle and the T-car.

* * *

Raven, on the other hand, wanted no part of this fight. She had other business to attend. A portal opened and she walked into it, reappearing in a side of the city that no one usually went to. The dark side of town, as many movies and stories have called it. It was completely worn-down and had fallen into disrepair. But somehow the buildings still stood and most of the machines still functioned. Rust was everywhere, choking the past beauty of the area. Vines grew wildly and untamed on the sides of buildings. No one bothered to take care of their plants. Bricks were cracking and some even crumbling. The place was very unstable to say the least.

She walked past several old buildings and a few houses with tin roofs. There was an ancient beer brewery next to a run-down alley. This was her destination. She was supposed to meet someone here.

Inhaling deeply, she entered it only to find nine men sitting around one table. Each was making his own jokes, telling his own stories, and enjoying the drunken laughter of the others. A waitress kept bringing them drinks, and those drinks were consumed quickly, leaving empty mugs and bottles stacked all over the table. A broken light bulb that happened to be hanging over them was probably the center of one joke at one point or another.

The empath reluctantly walked past the flickering lights that threatened to burn out at any moment and took a tenth seat at the guys' table. Though they were expecting her to order a beer or other alcoholic beverage, she disappointed them by ordering iced tea.

One of the men put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. His shirt smelled of beer and sweat. It was disgusting, but thankfully he didn't always smell as such. Actually, he wasn't even a man yet. He was a teenager and underage of drinking rights. But he obviously didn't care. He was nineteen, in his prime, and wanting to act more mature. So naturally he wouldn't want to obey the law, since it 'cramped his style'.

"Nice to see you, too, James," Raven lied.

Two of the drunkards began to squabble over something completely uncomprehendable. Right when it looked like the pair were going to brawl it out, a waitress came and settled the argument by offering free beer if they promised to keep it quiet. As to be expected, they agreed and hushed themselves.

"So, Raven, where ya been?" the teen dubbed 'James' asked.

"I told you where I was," she replied.

"Oh, right. Uh, that big tower, was it?" he pondered, apparently having had too much to drink.

"Yeah," she answered as she tried to pull loose from his grip.

"Why're you trying to get away?" he wondered aloud, "Don't you wanna hug?"

"Not really," she told him.

Ignoring her, he turned to his friends, releasing his hold on her. "So, Buster, tell that one joke again. Ya know, that one with the-"

His sentence was cut short by another man's hand. "That joke ain't fit for no lady!" he scolded.

Normally, she'd have been taken aback. But she knew it probably wasn't fit for a lady, and she most certainly didn't want to hear it if this were true. The last joke she heard should've been illegal, so any joke that couldn't be told in front of her was most likely illegal or contained something illegal.

* * *

Robin leapt effortlessly into the air, effectively dodging one of Mumbo's trick-card attacks.

"You're going to jail for a long time once we get through with you, dude!" Beast Boy shouted.

The villain merely laughed, insulting the words as though they were non-humorous jokes. "You think you can stop me? You've failed the last time, seeing as I've broken out of jail."

With his guard dropped temporarily, Starfire took the opportunity to fire a few starbolts at him. Though the evil one tried to avoid them, he couldn't move in time and soon felt the searing sensation of the green aura. He cried out as the force threw him backwards.

He rolled at the last tumble and landed on his feet. Smiling as though nothing happened, he took off his magician's hat and tapped the bottom. A dozen doves flew out, along with a missile-looking object.

"You know what this is?" he asked gruffly.

Cyborg lowered his sonic cannon and immediately noticed it, "That's a warhead!"

"A what?" the changeling asked curiously.

"It blows up," Robin answered, saying that which Raven would normally have said.

"We must stop the device!" Starfire declared.

Cyborg carefully and timidly walked over to the missile, still mindful of Mumbo smirking in the shadows. For some reason, he wasn't moving. But a closer look at him revealed the reason: he could remotely detonate the missile. A small shimmer of the day's fading light made one corner of the remote reflect a near blinding light in everyone's eyes.

His eyes widened, half from the light and half from the awareness of the destruction that could take place with the flick of a finger. "Get him!" he yelled, pointing to the villain.

Everyone else took the cue and ran after him while Cyborg got out some portable tool that could be carried inside him and started trying to disarm the explosive.

* * *

While the rest of her team was dealing with a warhead and a notorious bank robber, Raven was stuck with the drunken men who laughed at the stupidest things. But at some point during the get-together, tension grew between James and the man whom she assumed was Buster. They'd had a big argument about a car. Supposedly, one of them had borrowed the car and forgotten to give it back, but the other one said he gave it back a long time ago.

After having heard enough of this bickering, the teen stood up and led everyone out the side door that led to the alley. Unfortunately, her plan didn't go as hoped. Now that no one was around to see them, the two angry drunks broke out into another, more vehement argument.

"I said it was my car! You haven't given it back! I think I'd know!" James started.

The rest of the group leaned on one another to prevent themselves from tripping in their drunken stupor. Each watched with deep interest as the bickering continued.

"I ain't got your car, you came over and asked for it back!" Buster proclaimed.

James' face turned red with fury at the proclamation.

"Aw, is the little baby gonna pitch a fit?" he taunted.

"You never gave it back though!" he combated, returning to the original subject.

In an effort to stop the argument before the deranged men got into an actual fight, the empath rapidly tried to change the topic for good.

"Hey, why don't we just go back inside and have another drink?" she suggested, hoping another round would knock them out.

Buster glanced her way and grinned, "That's a lovely idea, little lady. We'll do that right after we settle this."

She sighed, desperately thinking of something that might work. An object of common interest definitely wouldn't work, they were too drunk for reason to have an effect, and apparently changing the subject wasn't much of a help.

But now thinking wasn't helping. The large man, having had enough of James' ridiculous words, spied a big rock near the side of the brewery. Using his brute strength, he picked it up and prepared to sling it at his friend. Unfortunately, the light was almost gone and the man was too drunk to aim very accurately.

She flicked her eyes his way just in time to see a huge, jagged stone. And then...darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

-Chapter 3-

A green dog ventured into a side of town he'd never even known about until the escape of the bank robber. His head lowered to the cracked and worn asphalt below him, his nose twitched with every sniff he took. Curse that Robin... His leader had sent him to a remote place where even the most hardened of criminals wouldn't want to go! What made him think Mumbo would be here, of all places? It was so dirty and old.

Beast Boy strayed off course to the side of a curb, where a clogged-up storm drain had failed to store any rainwater. It was now kept in a nice little puddle that was sure to be cleaner than any drink in this area. Since he was thirsty from a tiring walk right after chasing Mumbo to the last spot they saw him, he bent down gingerly and prepared to lap up at least a small bit of water. But he stopped just short of it; something had caught his attention.

Even though he was currently colorblind, a much darker substance could be detected flowing lazily with the small stream of water that supported the puddle he was about to drink from. He cautiously sniffed it. It was a scent he didn't know, but he could make out what it was. Blood.

He raised his head to inhale the air around him. A familiar scent drifted with the currents of air that were pocketed all over the stale place. The scent was almost overpowered by the smell of blood, but it was unmistakable.

He morphed back into his human form and mentally scolded himself. He hoped dearly this scent wasn't the owner of this blood. He rounded a corner, following the trail made by the red liquid that would lead him to its source.

He stopped in front of a dark alley right near a brewery. A crumpled figure, which he couldn't quite make out, lay on the ground. The trail lead to this figure. As he walked up to it, he couldn't help but beg to anything that was listening that it wasn't...

He turned over the body, instantly recognizing it as a person, and whispered the girl's name, "Raven..."

He scooped her up extremely gently in his arms, which had gotten quite the burst of strength from the adrenaline now flowing through his veins. Normally this would've been a difficult task to accomplish because of his scrawny body, but when his best friend was in such danger as this, with blood gushing steadily out of her, well...changes would happen.

Though he tried as he ran towards Titans' Tower, he couldn't reach his communicator without dropping his cargo. It was made worse because he didn't want to bump her or shift her too much, as to avoid further harm. This made morphing impossible. He had to run on his own power to get her to the safety of her home.

He got nervous when he felt himself dash his foot against a fallen brick. Though he almost tripped and fell on an unconscious Raven, he somehow managed to keep his balance and keep running. But it was Raven he was nervous for; the jolt could've caused more harm than good.

Beast Boy ran past several buildings, and he felt the pressure of time running out every step of the way.

Once he burst though the doors to their home, it hit him that he hadn't even checked to see if the empath was still alive. He ran to his room and set her carefully down on his bed, not caring that her blood was soiling his sheets, and put two fingers up to her neck. Her pulse was very weak, but still there. And she was breathing, another good sign. She was definitely still alive.

But now a new thought came to mind: How long would she stay among the living? Though a dreadful thought, a very true one as well. The humanimal vigorously shook his head. This was Raven; she was a fighter and was probably trying to heal herself right now. But the sound of dripping brought doubts. He turned to see that the blood was starting to pool around her, the mattress not soaking it up fast enough.

The changeling fumbled for his communicator and, when he found it on his belt, pressed a button.

Robin's face flickered on the screen, "Beast Boy, it's Robin. Have you found Mumbo yet?"

The said character struggled to keep from panicking as he answered, "No, but I found Raven-"

"Raven? Wasn't she in the fight with Mumbo? She should've been searching for him like the rest of us," Robin interrupted.

"We've got way worse problems than Mumbo right now. I found her in an alley on the far side of town unconscious. Now there's blood everywhere and I don't know what happened! Tell the others to get to Titans' Tower right now. I think Raven may be running out of time and I have no idea what to do!" he replied in gush of words that would otherwise be uncomprehendable.

The tiny screen went blank for a second, and then Robin's face was back. "Okay, Starfire's the one closest to the tower, and she's on her way right now, but it'll take at least ten minutes. Try to clean up the blood until she gets there," the teen instructed.

Beast Boy hurried to turn off his communicator. Not daring to waste time fiddling with it, he dropped it on the carpet and used the nearest clean absorbent substance he could find: a pair of his pants fresh from the laundry. It'd have to do for now. He snatched the raiment and began wiping off his friend's blood.

In around twelve minutes, he heard the door to the tower open and light footsteps dashing in.

Though he didn't want to leave her side while she was in such a fragile state, he ran to greet his teammate. "Starfire, Raven's in my room. We have to hurry!" he said as he ran down the corridor, into the hall, and to his room.

The alien followed suit to find that his story checked out. Raven was indeed unconscious and bloody. She lay motionless on the bottom bed of her friend's bunk bed. The teen kicked a pile of dirty clothes out of her path and began to examine the empath.

"What has happened to Raven?" she asked.

"I don't know, I just found her like this," Beast Boy answered truthfully.

"We cannot relocate her to the tower's medical bay," Starfire observed.

"Why?"

"Any such movement could either prolong her suffering or ultimately destroy such vital organs as her brain by damaging her neurons," she replied.

Ignoring the too-smart-for-his-brain-to-understand comment, Beast Boy nervously asked if she would be okay.

"Even I cannot say. Her injuries are great."

"Can't you help her, Star?" his voice cracked.

"I will do everything I can, but I cannot guarantee her survival," she sorrowfully answered.

Just now registering the true severity of the situation, the changeling's eyes brimmed with unshed tears. They stung even worse as Starfire injected a steady stream of a saline solution into the empath's arm. She took the needle out and brought into view a different needle, this one containing many of the necessary nutrients consumed daily by the body. She injected this one, too, and he hated the thought of her being in such pain.

Starfire turned her friend's head to one side and saw the source of the blood. She gestured for Beast Boy to hand her a rag or something else to wipe the blood off with, and was handed a clean sock right off the top of the laundry stack. She glanced at him and he shrugged. Her own shoulders moved up and then dropped. She tenderly scrubbed away hardened blood and fresh blood, only to have more and more keep coming.

Now realizing that it wasn't going to clot, she wiped away the blood once more and headed into the medical bay, returning with one of those portable bag-hanger things that most hospitals have. She connected the tube to a needle and stuck it into her friend's arm, finally allowing the fluids to enter the victim's body. The fluids were completely harmless and helped, if nothing else.

"I do not know why her wound will not stop the bleeding. It continues even though I have cleansed it of her blood," Starfire pondered.

Just then, the door to the tower opened and it seemed as though the alien immediately knew who it was. In a flash, she was ran and came back with another Teen Titan.

"Robin! Dude, I never thought I'd be so happy to see you!" Beast Boy chirped.

"Same to you. But that's not the reason I'm here," he stated, turning his head to have a look at his friend. "You said you found her like this in an alley?"

"Yeah, but she wasn't moving and still isn't," he worried.

"I understand your concern, Beast Boy, but can't Raven heal herself?" he reminded.

"I thought the same thing, but when she wouldn't stop bleeding, I had to wonder..." his voice trailed off, scared to admit the worst.

"That's odd... I'll see what I can do," he said resolutely.

A glint of hope appeared in both Beast Boy's and Starfire's eyes. Robin knew more about medical needs than either of the two, so he would be able to help more than the both of them combined.

"Did you bump her on the way here?" Robin asked curiously.

"No. Well, I almost tripped but didn't. I tried to be careful and not jostle her alot," he replied.

"Well, you did a good thing by not moving her around too much. She'd already taken a pretty bad beating to her skull by the time you got there. I'm going to have to do an X-ray, though, to find out if anything's been broken," he said.

Starfire and Beast Boy nodded and went to get the needed machine.

Meanwhile, Robin kept examining her. True, her cranium had been hit hard, but why was this gash in her head still bleeding? Surely this would've clotted by now, at least if it was an ordinary injury. Perhaps more damage had been done than he first thought. Luckily, the X-ray should clear it up.

He lifted one of her eyelids to find that her eyes had rolled back. It looked less like she was unconscious, and more like she was sleeping. But he knew better. There was absolutely no way she could be faking this. He let her eyelid slide back down.

Starfire and Beast Boy had returned with the X-ray machine.

"Here is the necessary device for the sight of our friend's skeletal structure," she called, alerting Robin to their presence.

Beast Boy helped Robin move the X-ray towards Raven, where the Boy Wonder cranked a handle to lift the machine up a few notches. A bright flash of light filled the room, then died just as quickly. Now all they had to do was wait for the picture to come out, which didn't take very long at all.

Robin snatched up the picture as Beast Boy started wiping away blood again. He raised it to the light and held it firmly in his hands, but not enough to damage the photo. Every part of her looked normal, except her head. Her skull's front had caved in, and one of the shards had sliced an artery by her temple, along with a few much more minor blood vessels over the front of her brain. This perfectly explained the excessive bleeding; however, it meant her life was hanging onto its last threads.

"We can't move her, at least until she comes to. Beast Boy," the hero said, turning to his teammate, "you won't mind if we do surgery in your room, will you?"

Starfire looked at him with a worried expression, but Beast Boy had already made up his mind. "I just want her to live."

"There's no chance of her survival unless the surgery is performed. It's as critical as her condition. Make your final answer fast, because time's running out," he told the changeling.

"Then what are you waiting for?" he said, eager to hear his friend would be safe.


	4. Chapter 4

-Chapter 4-

Beast Boy continued his pacing, oblivious to Starfire's stares. Finally, she stood up from her crouching position on the floor and said to him, "Friend, you have not ceased your walking. Something bothers you?"

"Of course it does! If only I'd gotten there sooner... Maybe she wouldn't be like she is now... Maybe she wouldn't have gotten so seriously hurt..." he answered mournfully.

"You blame yourself for something you could not have prevented. It is not you who is at fault," the alien tried to console.

"It's _all_ my fault, Star. I'm the only one of the Titans who has all these keen animal instincts. I should've known! I should've sensed something!" he raged, angry only at himself.

Unknowing how to respond to such a truthful comment, she returned to her crouching position. And not a second too soon, for Robin came out the door with bloody gloves and an operating mask.

"Is she okay?" Beast Boy jumped.

A bit alarmed at first, he replied, "I did everything I could. Now we can only wait."

"What was the status of her condition?" the red-haired heroine asked.

"Grave. But the surgery should increase her chances of survival," he answered. He then turned to the worried changeling and said, "It's only fair to tell you that it's a very real possibility she won't wake up. After all, surgery near the brain is extremely delicate. Even the slightest change in temperature or air pressure could've thrown her into a coma...or worse."

"She's not in a coma right now, is she?" he yelled, not intending to show as much fear as he was now.

"I'm not sure. It may take a few days for her to wake up. If it takes longer, then we can assume it's a coma."

"C-Can we see her?" he stuttered.

"Yeah, but try not to freak out," Robin answered, still respectful of his friends' feelings toward the situation.

The humanimal hesitated, afraid of what he might see. But, although he shuddered at many uncanny thoughts, his eagerness to know she was, at the very least, alive overpowered all of them. He wasted no more time and slid open his door, flashbacks of the talk they'd had the day prior to this surgery floating around his mind.

What he saw wasn't as bad as the thoughts he'd had. She was hooked up to an IV and several electrodes monitored her brainwaves and heartbeat. An oxygen mask was giving her only the purest air available. At least it was an oxygen mask; he'd pictured a tube being shoved down her throat because her lungs weren't functioning. But this contradicted that idea. Her lungs were apparently functioning just fine. A bandage was soaking up some of the blood that still leaked out of her stitches. It rested on her head, and made it look more like she'd been in a car accident.

Beast Boy already knew her back might be bruised up a bit due to the way she fell. But, speaking of bruises, the one she had on her arm was pretty bad. It went so far as cuts. If she'd merely bumped it, just how hard did she bump it? And against what did she bump it? There was simply no way she'd get such a horrible bruise by 'just bumping it', as she'd phrased it. This only brought him to his next question: Who hurt Raven? And for what purpose? Unfortunately, these answers had to be postponed because only Raven knew them, and she wasn't conscious at the time.

Her chest rose and fell with steady, even breaths. She didn't levitate, as she had when he was dealing with his problem with the Beast. That trance was supposedly just showing her ability to heal herself, so why wasn't she doing it now? Why could she not heal herself? Or...was that just a one-time thing? So many more questions were added to Beast Boy's queue. But he needed to wait for the answers. Though it was frustrating, he managed to purge them from his mind.

He knelt down beside her and watched silently as she breathed. He listened to the sound of dripping, but thankfully this dripping came from the IV, and not from her. Even though blood couldn't have a strong smell unless there was a ton of it, his entire room smelled as her blood did. He remembered it very clearly; he had no idea whose blood it was because Raven had never truly bled before. Maybe a scrape here and scratch there, but never before an actual bleeding wound. Plus, he hadn't transformed into a dog when he saw her cuts that had been caused by the force of the same impact that caused the bruise on her arm. Therefore, he'd never had a chance to memorize the scent of her blood.

"Beast Boy," Robin said, pulling him out of his thoughts, "We can't move her until she wakes. That is, if she _does_ wake. She'll have to stay in your room for the time being. Are you okay with that? If you aren't, you can sleep in my room."

"Nah; it's probably better if someone's in here with her in case something goes wrong. Besides, she's made me realize I need to do alot of laundry; wasn't very easy searching for clean pieces of clothing," he joked.

Underneath, the changeling was scared. The fact that she couldn't even be moved only proved just how critical her condition was. And then being told she might not wake up... It was beyond disheartening. It was more like heart-breaking because he always thought of Raven as so much more than a friend. Sure, she made fun of him and teased him even while they were in the middle of a fight, but the reason he tolerated it was because every time he looked at her, weird feelings would emerge from out of nowhere. He liked these feelings, but they only occurred when she talked to him or looked at him. This proved there was some link to the emotions and her, but he had to figure out what the emotions were before he could tell her about them. After all, he'd never felt this way with any other girl before, not even Terra.

He sighed. Right now, even as he thought about them, even over his fear for her safety, he was feeling those same feelings he didn't understand and couldn't quite describe.

He continued staring at the empath's motionless form. She was so fragile, so delicate, so vulnerable. Never had he seen her like this. Never had he _wanted_ to see like this. Again, he blamed himself. Who could do such a thing? Why couldn't he have been there to protect her? His eyes widened as a new thought hit him. Hold on...protect? Her powers could've very easily protected her. Surely she'd have tried to use them to defend herself from her attacker. And there was no 'didn't see it coming' because she could sense things, especially danger. So what happened? If someone was powerful enough to take down Raven...then...then what? Raven was probably the strongest of the Titans. Her powers were difficult to understand; he himself still didn't get how they worked. So if someone could take her out in one move-there had been no sign of a struggle-then the rest of them were toast.

NO! He would NOT let the same thing happen twice. He would NOT make the same mistake again. But in order to protect her, he would have to stay by her side. Honestly, he himself wasn't entirely opposed to this idea, but what would she think of it? Would she understand, or...or would she shut him out? She had a bad habit of doing that. And how could he possibly stay by her side every step of the way? He'd obviously failed to take into account the fact that girls need showers, too. What was he going to do when she needed one, take one with her? He'd be knocked out cold in two seconds flat.

He scratched his head, which was starting to develop a severe headache. It was a dead-end zone!

Well, for now she was safe. And he could be with her and she couldn't oppose it.


End file.
